Golden Bears dispatch UFV to secure semifinal berth

EDMONTON - The No. 3 seed Alberta Golden Bears took an early first quarter lead and never looked back, dispatching an upstart No. 6 UFV Cascades team 80-66 in Canada West Quarterfinal action Saturday afternoon at the Saville Centre.

"We knew UFV was a very solid team, and it was going to take a full 40 minutes on both sides of the ball to get the job done," said Alberta's fourth-year guard Isaac Simon, who was an embodiment of a full effort finishing with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals as he contributed on all sides of the ball.

Alberta was led by a depth effort that has largely led them to this point, with Kyle Varner leading the scoring with 21 points, going five-for-nine from deep. The x-factor in this one though was on the defensive end, where they outrebounded the Cascades 46-36, and were disruptors on the perimeter almost completely shutting off effective UFV motions and ball movement.

UFV did see some bright spots in the loss, particularly from the charity stripe where they shot 21-for-24, and they actually won the turnover battle, generating 21 to Alberta's 16. However, their offence was never able to find a rhythm against the fourth-best defence in the CW, and without any support from the rebounding department they were unable to climb back from an early Bears run. Dario Lopez was stellar for the visitors, scoring a game-high 24 points, including 12 in the second quarter, and was flanked by Bennett O'Connor who finished with 12. They finish their season with a 14-8 combined record, 1-1 in the postseason.

This was the first CW playoff matchup between these two teams since they met in the Championship Final in 2012, a 72-71 thriller that Alberta took for their 10th championship. With the win today, the Golden Bears await the results of tonight's contest between No. 2 Victoria and No. Trinity Western. With a Vikes win, the Bears head to Victoria next weekend for their semifinal, but with a Spartans win they will host.

Alberta swung out to an early 10-4 lead behind two straight triples from Fahad Yusuf and Kyle Varner, but the Cascades were able to keep pace with three of their own in the opening frame, including two from Matthias Klim to trim the Bears hot start to just a five-point advantage after one.

Behind a loud Saville faithful, Yusuf would lead the Bears on a 11-2 run over the opening three minutes of the second to take a commanding 12-point edge. The Cascade's Dario Lopez was terrific in the second, scoring a frame-high 12 points and for large portions was the only offensive option for the visitors as they entered the break down 45-35. Lopez's 14 was the high through two quarters, while Alberta was paced with 11 from Varner.

Isaac Simon, who had a quiet seven points in the first half, exploded out of the gate in the second half, scoring six of Alberta's points on a 9-1 run that gave the hosts an 18-point lead. While Jaylen Lee would do his best to thaw a frigid Cascades offence that was held to just a 28.6% mark from the field in the third, but a buzzer-beating Nate Waldron layup would punctuate an Alberta 18-point advantage headed down the stretch. It was a lead that the Cascades would chip away at, but never get close as the Bears took this one 80-66.

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